Correspondence between Knight and Eni on the issue was part
of normal relations with shareholders, Recchi told reporters at
a conference today in Cernobbio, Italy. “We pay attention to
what our shareholders say,” he said.

Knight, founder of the Knight Vinke fund, which owns less
than 1 percent of Italy’s biggest oil company, wrote a letter to
Eni Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni last week saying a
spinoff of Saipem would be beneficial. The contents of the
letter were reported by Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Knight argued that Eni should free itself from Saipem,
whose shares have fallen more than 30 percent since the end of
January when reports emerged that the company may be the subject
of an enquiry. Scaroni and several managers were put under
investigation Feb. 7 as part of a probe into the award of oil-
services contracts to Saipem in Algeria. The company has denied
any wrongdoing.

Separately, Recchi declined to comment on whether the
company was in talks with China National Petroleum Corp. for a
stake in a gas project in Mozambique.